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EDF
5481 METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
INSTRUCTOR:
DR. SUSAN CAROL LOSH
Fall 2017
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
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Many of you will find focus groups to be an extremely useful method in your disciplinary work. Because group discussions and informal group leaders, for example, in neighborhoods, schools, or work groups, can often influence social change and policy, the focus group has regained popularity. Focus groups have been used for at least 65 years.
We often use focus groups:
We VIRTUALLY NEVER use focus groups to generalize to [sub]populations because
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(these were for earlier students who designed a focus group study but they may be useful to you nonetheless) |
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Focus groups comprise 6 to 12 members who meet for an hour or two to discuss a specific topic. Members usually are interested in the focus group interview topic but ideally they represent a range of different opinions on the topic. Often the researcher tries to recruit respondents to create some diversity on other characteristics (but see below).
NOTE: Some focus groups may meet for far longer, sometimes for an entire day (or occasionally more).
Consider carefully the population that is used for a focus group. Members should have an interest in the topic or some familiarity with the topic. A topic of teacher's unions will be of interest to teachers (of course) but also to school administrators or school board members. The topic will probably only be of political or general interest to anyone else.
You may want more than one focus group. For example, continuing with the teacher's union topic example, you might want teachers in one group, administrators in a second group, and school board members or county employees in a third group so that teachers or administrators will not be intimidated.
Most researchers believe it is the group discussion that is the most useful. Group discussion usually means that diverse viewpoints are presented, amplified, and considered. The idea is to create an open, tolerant, and nonjudgemental atmosphere so that members are comfortable expressing their ideas. The group may be asked to draw conclusions as a group or to make policy recommendations.
EXAMPLES OF FOCUS GROUP POPULATIONS:
While moderators want diversity, be careful to watch for factors that would intimidate some members from speaking openly. These include:
Seat "experts" next to the moderator. Meanwhile, seat shy people across from the moderator to be able to encourage them with eye contact, nods and smiles.
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Each focus group usually has:
Where do focus groups take place? Some universities, government agencies, and market research firms have special facilities for focus groups. These include a central table, comfortable chairs, often one-way mirrors so that observers can take notes, audio-taping and video-taping facilities. Light refreshments, sometimes even meals, are provided (alcohol, however, is not).
(NOTE: audio-recording is usually not obtrusive and reactive after the first few minutes but video-recording can be both.)
Focus groups usually include a "presession." Moderators and assistant moderators mingle with participants. While making what appears to be friendly conversation and "small talk," they are getting an idea of how talkative participants are, whether they lecture rather than converse, who is shy and who is not.
The specific focus group interview questions, their order, and probes are usually unstandardized (unlike a general public survey).
Questions are nearly always open-ended.
Usually at least a dozen questions are prepared in advance. Questions may have subportions.
The order of the questions is often influenced by the direction the conversation takes. In fact, you may not use up all your questions with a particular focus group, but you want to make sure that you have enough questions to last the length of the proposed session.
Probing is crucial (review probes under interviewing, e.g., "why do you feel that way?").
Bring the group to closure by summarizing main themes and soliciting suggestions for action. Focus groups like to feel that they have "accomplished something" even if that "something" is restating the general opinions that were expressed during the session.
Focus group reports describe main themes. Unlike the complex statistics often used for mass public surveys, focus group reports may do simple counts and give anecdotal examples. Sessions are frequently audio-recorded, but take notes too. Recorder devices have been known to fail! Quotes from notes and the tapes are often placed in the report. We'll review more about such use when we study content analyses, for example.
While you are packing those extra recorder batteries, consider any other logistics. Is there a backup room if it turns out construction is going on next door (did you check on that?) Did you recruit a few extra participants because some of them will almost certainly not show up at the last minute?
REMEMBER YOU TYPICALLY CANNOT GENERALIZE
FROM A FOCUS GROUP TO A LARGER POPULATION. AND THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE
ANYWAY. The purposes are usually insight, gathering
a range of dimensions that MAY be used in a future, more standardized survey,
and to give more depth than is typically found in standardized surveys.
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A focus group takes more time and is much more inconvenient for the participant than a survey. Most surveys "come to" the respondent, for example, as a telephone interview or online link, and take under half an hour. In contrast, focus groups can last at least an hour, and that isn't counting travel time. Most focus group participants typically travel to the study location. You can see that a busy person who works and has a family is somehow going to have to schedule a trip in their free time, typically in the evening or on a weekend.
If most people you ask to participate decline, your already low external validity drops several further notches. You don't want a group of people with nothing else to do! (That's not a very diverse group most of the time either.) Therefore, you want to maximize participation.
This usually means offering inducements to participate. In addition, expect to feed focus group participants. At the least, this means soft drinks, tea, coffee, water and light refreshments (e.g., chips; veggies). If the meeting is held during lunch hour or in the evening, expect to provide a meal. (No alcohol, of course.)
Inducements (see below) seem to work better than a dollar stipend, but if you expect the group to meet for several hours or more, you may want to consider payment.
You may have to pay travel costs and certainly pay parking costs. Possibly babysitting costs (so check to see if you must provide childcare). Make sure the surroundings are pleasant. If a restaurant has a separate room that is quiet enough so that the conversation can easily be heard and recorded, some moderators find this to be a popular inducement. Obviously, you wouldn't try to hold the focus group in the restaurant itself!
Door prizes are popular and sometimes merchants or agencies who are interested in the topic will donate them. (When I created and helped moderate focus groups for the Leon County School System, for example, merchants donated a lot of computer software.)
Very often, specialized inducements work the best. Examples:
Of course, if you run several focus groups for a study (and many studies do), the costs can be considerable.
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MATCH YOUR TOPIC TO A CENTRAL INTEREST OF GROUP RESPONDENTS. For example, suppose your focus group is comprised of current FSU students. Most FSU students are in good health. But many students have friends or relatives who have needed serious medical care. A focus group of students who have had ill friends or relatives could address health care and may be more informed about health policies than students who have not had people close to them who needed much health care.
If you use college student respondents, generally choose topics of interest to students (I will never forget one extremely chilling focus group on drunk driving wherein 5/8 respondents described their drunk driving habits...but it WAS a good focus group.)
KEEP PEOPLE ON TRACK. Memorize your unstructured questions and keep them in front of you as well. Generally head off diversions and keep people on topic.
CONTROL PARTICIPANTS WHO TRY TO MONOPOLIZE THE DISCUSSION. Get a feel for your respondents during informal discussion before the focus group session begins.
MAKE SURE THAT MODERATORS AND ASSISTANTS DON'T MONOPOLIZE THE DISCUSSION EITHER! Let people "jump into the silence." Just wait a little bit and participants almost certainly will speak. Focus groups represent more of a give and take than general public surveys do...but you gathered these individuals together to let THEM talk!
TRY TO GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE TO CONTRIBUTE. This may mean gently calling on shyer focus group respondents.
BE NONJUDGMENTAL AND KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE TOLERANT so people with diverse viewpoints will feel comfortable giving their opinions.
REMEMBER THOSE PROBES! (Is there anything else? What would be your best guess on that? I need an idea of what you mean by...)
CONTROL YOUR SETTING. No barking dogs, ringing telephones, or toddlers making lots of noise. To minimize distractions, see if you can find a room with good lighting (if possible, not florescent which makes us all look sick) but no windows, or with window coverings.
PREPARE ABOUT A DOZEN QUESTIONS. Your goal is to stimulate group discussion.
REVIEW THE BASIC
RULES FOR CONSTRUCTING QUESTIONS (especially
open-ended questions) HERE.
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Susan Carol Losh
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